by Autumn Avery
A photo hangs on the wall beside her, right between their faces, of him and his family. How poetic.
Cheaters piss me off to no end, even more than liars. I mean, I guess cheating is basically a form of lying, but it’s so much worse. To betray the person you love like that – I could never, ever do something like that to Katie. When I’m with a woman, I’m with her, and that’s that.
I keep recording as Mrs. Thompson gets down on her knees and takes Daryl’s cock into her mouth. He slips a hand around her head and starts to fuck her face. He’s pretty rough too and Mrs. Thompson obviously loves it.
I keep filming until he puts it in her and they start to really fuck, and then decide that’s enough. I’ve got what I need. With this, I’ll get my life back. Mrs. Thompson will be forced to let everyone know she lied about me raping her, and even if some people at school don’t believe her, at least the criminal investigation will be over with and I can get at least some of my life back.
For a woman who could do such a despicable thing to her husband, it doesn’t surprise me she’d lie about me after she doesn’t get what she wants. She’s probably used to all the dudes around here succumbing to her “charms.” Some men are into women who just throw themselves at them, but not me.
Those months I spent waiting for Katie were torture, but they made it so much sweeter when I finally had her. Sliding inside of her after all those days I spent thinking about her, was unlike anything I had imagined.
As I cross the street back to my car, the wind picks up and blows across my face and I feel hopeful for the first time since this awful shit went down. A feeling of hope fills me, but it’s quickly drowned out with a vengeful spite that overwhelms me. I can’t fucking wait to confront this bitch with this and see the look on her smug, goddamn pathetic face.
I climb into my truck, making no attempt to be quiet this time, slam the door shut, rev the engine and gun it, heading back across town to my place. I want to go see Katie, but now is not the time. I’ve got to get this shit straight so I can tell her when I see her. The news has probably reached her parents by this point, and even though they don’t know about us yet, they won’t think too kindly about a coach who’s been accused of rape being around their daughter.
I slide my cell phone back into my pocket and grin as I hit the gas.
8
Katie
Katie
* * *
“No matter what happens, we will be together.”
That’s what he said. And I know he meant it. But I’m having a hard time seeing how it’s going to happen.
I’m upstairs in my room where I’ve been imprisoned by my jailer parents after they were informed by the school that I’d ditched halfway through the day. My mom was furious.
“No one saw you leave? You just walked home!? What if you’d been picked up on the road by some creep!?” She’d said.
She always overreacts to everything, which is probably why my dad tends to be more laidback about things, I guess. But he sided with her on this one and I’m not allowed out of the house for the rest of the day and probably the weekend too, unless I can get them to calm down.
But that’s not even the worst of it.
The worst part, is they heard about Coach Steele.
“What’s this about Coach Steele?” My mom asked me after she’d calmed down. “He’s been accused of…rape?”
“It’s not true!” I’d said, stomping my foot like a little girl. I think my anger was a little over the top and my mom noticed.
“Well, honey…how do you know?”
“I just know,” I’d said before turning and stomping upstairs to my room.
I’d heard my parents arguing downstairs about it. It seemed like my mom was more upset than my dad.
“Well, you never know, Dianne,” he’d said.
“I don’t want someone like that around our daughter!” I’d heard my mom say. I practically clawed my comforter to death by balling it up so hard in my hands as I tried not to scream. “What if he did something to her?”
“Come on, Dianne. Don’t be ridiculous. Even if that was going to happen, he’s not going to be teaching there after this.”
“Good!” She just about screamed, causing every muscle in my body to tense. “I don’t want a man like that around my daughter.”
I sat there listening to them talk for what seemed like forever, and was just about ready to go down there and give them a piece of my mind when they finally calmed down. My dad went to get some work done and my mom started to get dinner ready.
* * *
Now I’m sitting here feeling completely lost.
I can’t leave my room and I don’t have my phone because my mom took it from me as punishment, and all I can think about is Coach Steele, what he’s doing right now and what’s going to happen to us.
The police know and have gotten involved, which means he’ll have to have a trial – I guess?
I don’t really know how this all works. I don’t see how a jury would ever find him guilty though. She doesn’t have a single bit of evidence and there’s no way she’ll be able to describe his naked body. And with a dick like Coach has, she’d have to be pretty specific. Saying, “Oh, he was average,” would be a pretty big indicator she was lying.
And what if she gets the time and place wrong? Maybe Coach has an alibi at the time she said it happened. He does live alone though, so if she said it happened when he was home watching TV that’s going to be really bad.
There’s still some hope, but even after going on trial and being found innocent, I can’t see my parents being okay with our relationship. It was going to be a hard enough sell prior to this – but now…
Every time I think about Coach, I get going. My body just reacts to him like no other. As I think about what happened at his house earlier, I can feel myself getting turned on again. But I’m so irate I don’t know which feeling to pay attention to. If only he was here.
I’ve never had rough, angry sex before with Coach, but I think that’s what I could use right about now. I’m just fuming. Everything is so out of my control. I want to do something, but I just don’t see any options.
Everything in my life is always on someone else’s schedule. I go to school the same time every day. I go to practice. I do my homework. I have assignments due at a certain time. Tests. Games.
I thought I would at least have the ability to determine how I ran my personal life, but now I am back in the same place as before – waiting. My life being run by someone else.
Mrs. Thompson.
My stomach twists into knots when I think about her. That pathetic way she threw herself at Coach like that’s the kind of woman he would be interested in. How couldn’t she see it? I’m really hoping someone else at school has seen her come on to him before and maybe that will help them understand how she’s completely full of shit with these allegations.
Just as the anger inside me is about to boil over, I hear the softest of taps on my window. I look over, thinking maybe a tree branch was blowing in the wind, but it’s pretty calm outside. Then it happens again.
Tap!
Someone’s throwing pebbles at my window.
I get up quickly and pull the window open, my heart in my throat, and see Coach Steele standing in the side yard under the shadows of my neighbor’s tree.
“Coach!” I shout in a whisper.
“Hey, you,” he whispers back with a smile. “Come out here!”
I glance over my shoulder, making sure neither of my parents has poked their head into my door. But the coast is clear, and I turn back to coach and motion to him.
“One second!”
I shut the window and throw a cardigan on and head downstairs. My dad’s watching something on TV and my mom’s nowhere to be found.
“I’m just gonna take a walk,” I tell him. “Get some air.”
“Okay, sweetie,” he replies.
I pull the door open and step outside, shutting it behind me. Then I
’m off the steps and moving quickly around to the side yard. When I see Coach, I can’t control myself. I leap onto him and wrap my arms tightly around his neck. With a deep breath, I inhale all of him and feel the comfort of his scent as it fills my lungs.
His body is warm and his arms are strong around my legs as he holds me up and I feel his lips against my neck. I pull back, bring my lips to his and kiss him like I’ve never kissed him before. Up until now, it was raw passion, animalistic attraction and lust. But now, there’s something more powerful behind it.
When I realized how I would feel if I lost him, it was like all of my feelings for him were amplified a thousand times. I didn’t even think that was possible, but as our lips touch, I realize just how much I love him.
We kiss, and when I finally pull back and press my forehead to his, I feel at home.
“I love you,” I whisper.
“I know,” he says back. “I love you too.”
He moves to set me down, but I keep my legs curled around his waist so he can’t. I feel his lips smile against mine.
“I may have found a way out of this,” he tells me.
“What!?” I almost cry out, forcing myself to speak softly. “How!?”
“Well,” he continues. “Turns out Mrs. Thompson’s having an affair with Principal Brown’s husband.”
“You’re kidding!” I’m shocked. Not at the fact that he’s having an affair, but at the fact that there may actually be a way out of this mess for us.
“Nope. And I got something here on my phone that she might not want the rest of the world to see.”
“You didn’t!” I exclaim, barely able to contain myself. “So you’re going to blackmail her?!”
“That sounds awfully negative,” Coach laughs. “She’s lying about me. I think it’s only fair she gets a little of her own medicine back. All I want is for her to admit what she did. Tell everyone she lied. Clear my name.”
“Yes, yes, yes,” I say quickly, barely able to believe it. My arms and legs tighten around him, and I know I’m probably crushing him and he’s too nice to say anything, but I just can’t stop myself. “When are you going to tell her?”
“Tomorrow. Before school.”
“Oh my God, I can’t believe it. I’m going to tell my parents about us. They need to know. I want to be with you.”
“Not yet,” he says firmly. “Wait for this stuff with Mrs. Thompson to be resolved. They’re going to have a hard enough time with our relationship as it is, and I don’t want to make it worse.”
I know he’s right, but I can’t help feeling frustrated. One step forward – one step back.
“Okay,” I sigh.
“It won’t be long, Katie,” he tells me. “I waited months for you. We can wait a few more days.”
9
Coach Steele
Coach Steele
* * *
It’s game time.
I can barely contain myself as I lean against the back wall of the school, waiting for Mrs. Thompson, that bitch, to pull in so I can break the news to her.
I’ve played out this morning’s scenario a hundred times. I barely slept last night. I made sure to back up a copy of the video to my computer and the cloud, just in case she does something psychotic like try to attack me and rip my phone from my hands and smash it into a million pieces.
The morning light is still harsh and slanted over the pines at the end of the soccer fields, and I squint and raise a hand to shield my eyes. And that’s when I see her.
Mrs. Thompson.
Looking smug and oblivious as she pulls her sedan into the lot and parks. She’s singing along to some song, completely unaware of what’s going on around her, and when she opens her car door and steps out, and sees me, she looks like someone just hit her in the head with a bowling ball.
“C-Coach Steele!” She yelps like the bitch she is.
“None other,” I reply, giving her a cocky ass half-bow. I’m ready for this. I’ve been ready all morning.
“W-what are you doing here?”
She’s shaking like a leaf. All the color drains from her face as I step forward, tapping my phone against my palm. I can taste the sweet, sweet revenge that’s coming like a freight train, speeding a thousand miles an hour toward her.
“Oh, just thought I’d stop by. Say hi. Ya know?”
It’s pretty obvious she doesn’t know. She may be stupid, but she’s smart enough to know that something’s up, and I can see the discomfort in the way she clutches her purse to her chest and looks sideways at me.
“No. No, I don’t know,” she stammers. “What on earth are you talking about?”
I pace forward, slowly, but with a confidence that lets her know I’m not fucking around. This parking lot is mine. This space is mine. Her world is mine.
“You know, after I saw the cops last night, I thought I’d do something…stupid,” I pause for dramatic effect. “I thought I’d come by and see you. Maybe see if I could talk you out of this big bullshit story of yours.”
“I’m not going to stand here and listen to this,” she says, summoning whatever courage she has in her and striding past me.
“So I drove by your house. And wasn’t I surprised when I saw you sneaking out the back and getting into your car.”
I hear her footsteps stop behind me. A smile comes over my face.
Got her. She knows.
I turn, talking to her back.
“It was interesting seeing you sneaking around like a robber. So – if you’ll excuse the stalker-style behavior – I followed you.”
Almost like slow motion, Mrs. Thompson turns around and I see the horror on her face. It’s like Christmas. This is almost too good to handle. Payback’s a bitch.
“All the way across town to Sarah Brown’s house,” I continue. “I was wondering what you could want to talk to her about so late at night that you’d need to go over in person and not just call her. But then I realized…she wasn’t home. And you weren’t there to see Sarah—”
I’m inches away from her now. She’s terrified. I can see the sweat on her brow. Her hands are trembling. But there’s still a hint of that defiant anger behind her eyes. I still don’t think she knows what she’s in for.
“You were there to see her husband. Daryl.”
“Yes, he’s consulting with me on—”
“Don’t lie, Mrs. Thompson. It’s so un-ladylike of you. I’ve got it all on video.”
There’s a long, long pause as my words sink in. I relish every second. There’s nothing better than watching a liar get what’s coming to them. I take a huge breath, sucking air into my lungs and bulging my chest out. I take another step forward. I’m right on top of her. I can feel her body heat radiating out against me.
She looks like an animal that’s been cornered, and there’s no telling what might happen in a situation like that. But I think Mrs. Thompson, as crazy as she is, knows better right now.
I stare at her for what feels like an eternity. I can see her going through her options, trying to land on one, but the truth is – there aren’t any. She’s stuck. I’ve got her. There’s nothing she can do at this point. Finally, I see the look of surrender in her eyes.
“What do you want?” She is barely able to mutter. I can taste the victory. It’s just too damn good. After all of this shit she’s put me through, what I really want to tell her is that she needs to pack up her shit and catch the first rocket to fucking Mars. “You want me to drop the charges?”
“Oh, I want more than that, Mrs. Thompson,” I tell her, taking a step closer until we’re pretty much touching. “I want you to come out and tell everyone, and I mean everyone, that you made the whole thing up.”
“Okay,” she says quickly. “And you won’t tell my husband?”
“Your secret’s safe with me,” I tell her. “But the video’s not going anywhere.”
“But—“She starts to protest, but I cut her off.
“I’ll keep it safe. No one will see it
. But I’ll have it as a little insurance policy in case you decide you want to get up to your old tricks again.”
The look of defeat on her face is priceless. I can see my future opening up again after everything seemed so hopeless. I really do want to just leak the video after all of this to spite her, but I won’t. I’m a man of my word, even if I gave that word to a lying, cheating bitch who tried to ruin my life.
All I’m thinking about is Katie and the look that’s going to be on her face when I tell her about this. I can’t wait. Everything inside me is telling me to run to her now and break the good news. But there’s still one thing that has to be done.
“So right now, you and I are going to go see Principal Brown.” Mrs. Thompson’s face goes white as a ghost. “And you are going to tell her what you did so I can get my job back.”
“Okay,” she says quietly. I turn my back on her and head for the door. “I’m – I’m sorry.”
“No!” I snap, turning to face her. “Do not apologize! What you did was unforgiveable and you’re lucky I don’t plaster this video all over the internet and let your husband know what kind of a cheating, lying bitch you really are!”
I tear the door open to the school and step inside. I hear Mrs. Thompson’s steps behind me as we make our way toward Mrs. Brown’s office. The morning students are just starting to filter in, and I wonder if Katie’s here yet. I probably won’t be able to stay today, but hopefully an announcement is made later and I can come back in this week and get my job back.
And then I figure out how to get Katie into my life – fully into my life.
There’s going to be some explaining to do. Not just with this Mrs. Thompson mess, but with everything else her parents are going to be worried about. My age. The fact that I’m her coach. But all of that seems like nothing after going through this shit.